"Until Numbers Decline, Stay Online" Parking Lot Picket

Update: The Anchorage school District will not be returning to school on November 16. The parking lot picket has been canceled.

It looks like the situation between the Anchorage School District, its staff and Anchorage residents is coming to a feverish boil as I was just sent a flyer indicating that there will be a parking lot picket at the school board meeting Monday, November 9 at 4:30 PM. A source told me that the planned event is an independent effort to be heard by the School Board, Anchorage Assembly and the public.

The Anchorage school district has faced increasingly fierce resistance from staff, parents and Anchorage residents over the school district's plan to return children to the classroom at a time when Anchorage is experiencing record levels of new coronavirus cases, increased community spread of the virus and record hospitalizations due to the virus.

Anchorage school District staff have raised concerns about PPE, with some teachers saying they will have to pay for their own supplies out of pocket, and feel the school district's decision to reduce social distancing guidelines within classrooms to 3 feet of distance is wholly inadequate.

Many teachers say that they will have classrooms filled with 20+ students every day and no longer feel that the district's plan to return students to the classroom is science or data driven.

Over 40 Anchorage School District nurses penned a letter last week outlining their case that it was not safe to return students to the classroom at this time.

School district staff and Anchorage residents also put together a video to educate the public about their concerns with the school district's plan. The video has been viewed more than 3400 times.

Alaska today saw a record 604 new cases of the virus, 335 of those cases within the municipality of Anchorage. The municipality currently has 6,351 active cases of the virus and has 13 staffed ICU beds available in Anchorage hospitals.